Critique Senior Portrait - Delnor Woods and Fox River

[acnomad]

1. Environmental shot

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2. Full view

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3. Money shot

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4. Just for the fun of it (with the Helios 44-2)

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[nuclearjock]

Nice ones Andy. Not a fan of the Helios bokeh though.

 

[acnomad]

Nice ones Andy. Not a fan of the Helios bokeh though.

Neither is my client, apparently. All of his picks were from the 70-200.

 

[Mike Buckley]

Appealing set! Love the background colors in the third one.

 

[Palouse]

Nice set, especially 3.

 

[acnomad]

Appealing set! Love the background colors in the third one.

Thanks, Mike. The light was very special that day.

 

[acnomad]

Nice set, especially 3.

Thanks, Nick.

 

[Commodorefirst]

Missed these when you posted them, strong work here Andy. Very well done.

 

[acnomad]

Missed these when you posted them, strong work here Andy. Very well done.

Thanks Wade. I felt good about this session, and the client was pleased. Win-win.

 

[Wile E. Coyote]

Excellent! #2 is my favorite.

 

[greyflash]

Nicely done Andy and like the rest I am a fan of #3.

 

[gchappel]

These are very nice.
3 has great light. I would crop above the socks, the bright lines on the socks and the out of focus front shoe I think attract too much attention from the subject. I would also fix the bloody finger, unless there is a great story behind it.
gary

 

[acnomad]

These are very nice.
3 has great light. I would crop above the socks, the bright lines on the socks and the out of focus front shoe I think attract too much attention from the subject. I would also fix the bloody finger, unless there is a great story behind it.
gary

Really good point regarding the distracting light stripes of the socks - I wish I had thought of that before printing.

The finger injury actually occurred during the shoot, so we decided to let reality prevail over Photoshop.

 

[wembley]

These are very nice.
3 has great light. I would crop above the socks, the bright lines on the socks and the out of focus front shoe I think attract too much attention from the subject. I would also fix the bloody finger, unless there is a great story behind it.
gary

Exactly my thoughts. Hopefully you also got some headshots/upper body shots with just that glorious light in the background.

The bloody finger point is good and something that I regularly miss in portrait shots. Details. I always find a small detail I missed when reviewing the shots. An unsightly crease, an awkward hand position, or with my last graduation shot some flailing tassels. In this case on-site injury or not, having the hands the opposite way (left under right) would have resolved that little detail.

I love #2 that is well handled in harsh sidelight.

cheers
Wembely

 

[ac12]

My local high school is facing the covid issue for yearbook senior portraits.
The traditional studio formals may not be possible this year, so we are looking into having to do student provided informal pics, like yours.
I forwarded this thread to the editors for them to look at the pictures and think about.
The big thing is that the face size gets smaller as you go from traditional head and shoulder to full length. And the picture in the yearbook is not large. So a full length results in a rather small face.

Thank you for a nice set of comparison pictures.

 

[acnomad]

My local high school is facing the covid issue for yearbook senior portraits.
The traditional studio formals may not be possible this year, so we are looking into having to do student provided informal pics, like yours.
I forwarded this thread to the editors for them to look at the pictures and think about.
The big thing is that the face size gets smaller as you go from traditional head and shoulder to full length. And the picture in the yearbook is not large. So a full length results in a rather small face.

Thank you for a nice set of comparison pictures.

Many high schools contract with a single photography provider for their portraits. Of course the results are very uniform, but the method really detracts from the opportunity for a young man or woman to express his or her sense of self.

I have found that in normal times, my H.S. senior portrait clients represent a very small segment of the population who recognize that and are willing to go out of pocket for something more. Perhaps the circumstances of COVID-19 and the associated flexibility that distance learning provides will awaken more to the fact that it is a worthwhile pursuit to hire a professional for a personalized photo session. Best of luck in capitalizing on that opportunity!

 

[ac12]

Many high schools contract with a single photography provider for their portraits. Of course the results are very uniform, but the method really detracts from the opportunity for a young man or woman to express his or her sense of self.

I have found that in normal times, my H.S. senior portrait clients represent a very small segment of the population who recognize that and are willing to go out of pocket for something more. Perhaps the circumstances of COVID-19 and the associated flexibility that distance learning provides will awaken more to the fact that it is a worthwhile pursuit to hire a professional for a personalized photo session. Best of luck in capitalizing on that opportunity!

The issues we are facing are:
- When/if the studio will be able to open.
- Traditional tux/drape means sharing the clothing between students. Not such a hot idea with all the COVID issues.